The title is self-explanatory.

All creative activity is on hold until I feel better.

Am making use of what ginger root I have left...that should help.

If you learned about it from news reports from Oct. 7th onward, you should know that this conflict did not start then. The current battle is part of a longer war. Just when the war began depends on who you ask...

Pro-Pal antizionists (& antisemites who use antizionism as a cover) claim it began in 1948 when those nasty European settler-colonialist Jews expelled the Palestinians. Most pro-Israel folk & history geeks like myself, will tell you the modern phase of the conflict began in the 1880's when Zionist movements emerged in response to persecution of Europe's Jews, particularly in France & Russia. (Some of us will also inform you that the 1948 War of Independence & the events that led to it are way more complex than "evil white bastards killed & kicked out innocent Arabs", but that's a whole 'nuther discussion)

In a wider sense, though, even the late 19th century is not a sufficient starting point. Israel, & the Levantine region, are in an unusually unfortunate location: between Europe, Africa & (Western) Asia. Several trade routes went through it; it is also not far from the Fertile Crescent--the birthplace of almost every non-Chinese empire prior to that of Rome. Because of that, well...

If you want a more historically conscious perspective, start with this:

This Land Is Mine

It doesn't give you a complete answer, but it is a good start.

I started the 9th cane build a while ago. A lonnnggg while ago. I got so much done on it then put it aside because, as we all know, life is fuckin' distracting at times. Doing other art stuff doesn't help my concentration, either... No wonder I was diagnosed with a "short attention span" when I was a kid.

Only by the merciful FSM no pharmaceutical firm had invented Ritalin before I was born. Who knows how I would've turned out if I'd been forced to take it while my brain was still growing.

Anyway, I finally got back to it last week. A few snapshots of the tip:

You can't see it here but I already put the endcap on. If the weather holds at least one day this week, I'll get more of it done. Aside from shaping the handle a bit, all that's left is a lot of sanding & then the finish.

So I'm making art again... Not every day. I try to put in some time at least twice a week, more often if my schedule & body permits it.

Uploaded something a few days ago if you haven't seen it:

Brush lettering is inherently crude but with some digital editing--& if I do it right--the result is something worthy of posting. I'll have to do a few more of those...

Lettering by hand is old-school AF. But that's me...in this modern high-tech era, I'm not a dinosaur. I am a trilobite.

Still need to do a few boat illos, & of course some eye candy. The latter is the only kinda stuff that draws attention these days.

The statement in the 2nd pic is also mine, not just the lettering.

If scam sites like A.r.twisher are gonna steal our stuff off NG & use it as bait for lure suckers in, I'm not sure if I want to keep posting my work here... Truth be told, now I'm wondering what the point is of posting it anywhere online. This is the Internet we have now, folks.

One thing I know for certain: there is no way in Elon Musk's GI tract that I will post any finished work (or even my better sketches) without watermarks, & any other digital proofs of origin I can add. They can't stop theft, true. But unless an alert thief takes the time to erase them all, they will remain as evidence of his/its misdeed the instant the image is posted elsewhere. Am sticking by this decision for the foreseeable future.

In other news, I caught a bad infection last week...still not sure what it was. Coulda been a cold or it coulda been a strain of Covid, who knows. I don't feel 100% right now but am somewhat better than I was eight days ago....still shitty, though.

...I didn't know a Frenchman could be that funny.

• As of a few days ago, I am another year older. No, I'm not happy about it...once you're into or through the middle of your life, aging is not a joyful thing. So don't bother posting any "happy birthday!" crap, please.
• In better news, I wiped my Instagram account. For good. I'd been leaning towards that for a while (had taken a sabbatical from IG, more than once) but finally I got tired of the usual bullshit & arbitrarily & capriciously enforced rules. Now I will have more time for other things, including posting stuff on here. Any other social media I use in the future will be strictly for business purposes...ain't got much time for scrolling & messing around online.
• Money will be tight until year's end, but after that things will be good for a while.

...am wondering if I should post photos of my woodwork here. I've been building smaller objects (mostly canes) for well over a decade now & would like to show 'em off. But this may not be the best place for it...is NG a good choice at all? Most of the stuff that gets views here is either short movies or games.

If you have input on this, feel free to post it in the comments.

In other news, my shoulder & elbow have been hurting lately. Also my lower tract has been acting up. urrrgghh.

I hadn't put pen/pencil/etc. to paper in several weeks due to being involved with other projects, plus the inevitable flare-ups. Life can be distracting, as we all know. Finally changed that late last week. Snapshots of my current effort follow...

Got something to do for an art trade, so the ship illo won't get done right away. Stay tuned, folks!